Take card payments with just your iPhone

Before you start: An iPhone XS or newer on a recent iOS, signed into iCloud with your Apple ID, and payment setup finished (that's "Get set up to receive money", do it first, this flow needs it).

What this is

Tap to Pay on iPhone is Apple's built-in way for your iPhone to accept contactless payments directly. The customer taps their card, iPhone, or Apple Watch against the top of your phone, and that's the whole transaction. No reader, no dock, no extra thing to charge overnight and forget at home.

It takes contactless credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, basically anything the customer would tap at a grocery store.

Worth knowing: The customer's card data goes straight into Apple's secure hardware, encrypted. It never touches your apps, your photos, or anything else on your phone. Your phone doesn't "see" the card number, and neither does Tavvi.

Turn it on

On the business side of the app, open your store's home screen and tap Payments & Banking.
Open Service Settings and find the Tap to Pay on iPhone section.
Tap Enable Tap to Pay on iPhone. You'll review Tavvi's payment terms first.
Apple's own Tap to Pay on iPhone terms appear next, as a full-screen system sheet. Agree there too.
The phone runs a short one-time setup, under a minute on decent Wi-Fi. When it finishes, you're live.

Take a payment

Build the order at the register and go to pay.
Choose Tap to Pay on iPhone from the payment options.
Turn your phone toward the customer and have them hold their card or phone flat against the top edge of your iPhone, where the camera is, not the middle of the screen.
Hold still for a second or two. You'll see the confirmation the moment it goes through.

Good to know: Two things cause 90% of awkward first taps: a chunky or metal phone case, and the customer tapping the middle of the screen. Thin case, top edge, hold, smooth every time.

If something's off

The option is grayed out or missing at checkout. Payment setup isn't finished or is still in review, check the Money. Card payments can't route anywhere until Stripe approves the account.
Setup fails right at the start. Make sure the phone is signed into iCloud (iOS Settings → your name at the top). A phone without an Apple ID signed in can't enable Tap to Pay on iPhone, that's an Apple requirement.
Taps keep failing with one customer. Their card may not be contactless (no wave symbol), insert-only cards can't tap. Offer another method, or use a card reader if you have one.
You have an older iPhone. Tap to Pay on iPhone needs iPhone XS or newer. On older phones, a Bluetooth card reader does the same job, "Set up a card reader."